Anyone reading anything interesting?

[SJ McAbney]

Currently I'm reading Hypatia of Alexandria a Harvard University Press book by Maria Dzielska (trans. F. Lyra).

It's a small book but, for the lack of sources on Hypatia, it has a fair amount of content without waffling.

[XL-Dennis]

Well, it depends on what kind of interest we have :)

Right now I'm reading "Translating strategy into action - The Balanced Scorecard" by Robert S Kaplan and David P Norton.

Kind regards,
Dennis

[mark007]

Hmm.

I've just read a book called:

"The Best a Man Can Get" by John O'Farrell

which was excellent!

I'm now reading another by the same author called "This is Your Life".

I'm also reading:

"Shell programming with VB"
"VC++ in 21 days"
"Subclassing and Hooking with VB"
'etc.

LOL

:)

[Mark O'Brien]

"Stupid White Men" by Michael Moore.

[shades]

Light reading:
The Black Tower P. D. James

Theology:
The Climax of the Covenant N. T. Wright

The Person of Christ David Wells

Gospel of John in Greek, Psalms in Hebrew

Computers:
SQL Queries for Mere Mortals Michael Hernandez
Database Design for Mere Mortals Michael Hernandez

And my new eMac arrives today/tomorrow, so a little reading on OS X.

[Anne Troy]

Gosh. I feel like my entry is going to sound lame, LOL

From a Buick 8 by Stephen King

But I'm not reading it at THIS moment. :)

[mark007]

Although I'm not reading them now some books I can recommend are:

His Dark Materials Trilogy by Phillip Pullman

:)

[shades]

Oh yeah, I discovered Elmer Kelton - considered the best Western fiction writer in history (above Zane Grey and Louis L'Amour) in the past few months. I have read 4 of his books, and now am reading Stand Proud.

[Zack Barresse]

Mintzberg on Management: Our Strange World of Organizations
by Henry Mintzberg

good stuff. got it cheap ($12 USD) :)

[XL-Dennis]

ZAck,

Henry Mintzberg is still writing?
I read a good book of him, Structure in five (or something similar), for many years ago (but after the big bang ;) ).

Kind regards,
Dennis

[Zack Barresse]

Dennis,

it's not brand new, but yeah he's still puttin' around :*)

i'll have to look for that book you mentioned; he's an excellent author. nobody around here (where i live) even knows who H. Mintzberg is!

[TonyJollans]

The Man Who Loved Only Numbers by Paul Hoffman

The Hope of Living Cancer Free by Francisco Contreras

Northern Lights by Phillip Pullman

[WillR]

Currently... Excel Hacks sent to me by Dave & Raina Hawley - always nice to pick up some new tips... & there are quite a few in there... some good "reminders" of good practice too...

Last book I read that had a real big impact on my life was Allen Carrs Easy Way to Stop Smoking (see http://www.allencarrseasyway.com/ )

Anyone (like me, I have to admit :mkay ) that struggled for years trying different ways to give up & feeling real bad about it should read this... they guy is my current hero... :)

3 months & not missing it a bit :boing

[Scottie P]

Camtasia Online Help File: <i><b>Important Note about Camtasia Studio Produced SWF Files </i></b> and <i><b> Creating a Flash Menu Using Camtasia Theater </i></b>

That is the extent of my reading for the week.
(Incidentally, last week's reading was bits and pieces of the CorelDraw Studio 12 User's Manual)

:)

[WillR]

.......User's Manual)

:)

Scott, do you find user manuals in general extremely hard going ?

I remember ( & not too fondly) having to plough through a SUN Accounts user guide many years ago as a fairly raw MIS developer.... god was it tough... took it to bed for about three months until I got the reporting module sussed!! Yikes! No wonder we canned the idea of reporting in SUN & went for SQL/Crystal/XL data extracts!!

I like to find a layman's translation for stuff like that in a forum nowadays... :)

[Scottie P]

I almost get the feeling that the user manuals (the ones that I have actually opened) are written with some sense that the reader already knows the correct terminology and features concerning a given software, etc.
For instance Corel refers to 'tweening' in their manual; if I hadn't already understood the meaning of the term [through my use of Flash] I would have to make an assumption based on the rest of the text and context inwhich the term 'tweening' is used.

I too like to find a more easily understood translation as well...I spend a lot of time looking online for what the manuals lack in understandability.

Thank you for confirming that I am not just too picky! :)

As a side note, that is why I tend toward books like those that Dreamboat, Dave Hawley and [last but not least] The Collective MrExcel Gang have done...until I read through "Guerilla Data Analysis..." I could never find a use or managable means for subtotals...after 10 minutes in that book it all came together for me.

[Anne Troy]

Alright. That's enough. Who's gonna send me some Rolo Biscuits?<!--StartFragment -->
<!--StartFragment -->http://smilies.sofrayt.com/%5E/_950/mayi.gif

And don't tell me you don't have any.

[shades]

Scott, do you find user manuals in general extremely hard going ?

I remember ( & not too fondly) having to plough through a SUN Accounts user guide many years ago as a fairly raw MIS developer.... god was it tough... took it to bed for about three months until I got the reporting module sussed!! Yikes! No wonder we canned the idea of reporting in SUN & went for SQL/Crystal/XL data extracts!!

I like to find a layman's translation for stuff like that in a forum nowadays... :)

I remember when I bought my first Mac, I also purchased Word 5. The store where I bought it would send someone out to your house to set up everything and train you how to use the software initially. At that time Word shipped with a 1000 page manual. I read straight through that manual three times in a month, because I was afraid I would miss something. By the time the guy came to train me, I knew more than he did about Word!

I just started using Excel four years ago, and bought Using Excel 2000 Special Edition. For me that was a good start.

I agree about the MrExcel books (Guerrilla Data Analysis and MrExcel on Excel) are excellent. I don't have Dave and Raina's yet.

---------

Hey, maybe one of the tasks for this board is to also write a manual/book that would accompany the add-ins, etc. While I'm not much on coding, I have written ~200 papers in my nine years of post-graduate education over the past 27 years. Maybe I could help in that way.

[Anne Troy]

Hey, maybe one of the tasks for this board is to also write a manual/book that would accompany the add-ins, etc. While I'm not much on coding, I have written ~200 papers in my nine years of post-graduate education over the past 27 years. Maybe I could help in that way.
I thought you knew what N. A. V. Y. stood for!!

You just got yerself a job, dude!
<!--StartFragment --> http://smilies.sofrayt.com/%5E/_950/curtsey.gif

[XL-Dennis]

I received my copy today (well my local time yesterday) of Bill's & Tracy?s new Excel-book "VBA and Macros for Microsoft Excel" which seems to be another good source to recommend together with D & R Hawley?s book Excel Hacks.

It?s good to see that the publishers believe in books written by users to users :)

(Sorry Anne - But I have not yet read Your book mainly because it covers Word ;) )

Kind regards,
Dennis

[shades]

I may have to get Anne's book - does it work with Office 2004 for Mac? ;) With my work in Excel the past 4 years I hardly ever use Word (on the Windows side). At home I alternate between MS Word and Nisus Writer, and then FrameMaker for more advanced stuff.

Seriously I am putting together my mother's autobiography (350 pgs), and will probably submit the written portion in MS Word, and then about 50-60 photos. So, I will have to refresh my Word skills.

[Anne Troy]

Better get the book then, shades.

[brettdj]

Hide and Seek Snail by WOBBLEBUGS

[SJ McAbney]

I've just moved onto The Realm of Prester John by Robert Silverberg. After reading Umberto Eco's Baudolino last month I was interested in the story of Prester John and, while browsing Borders was quite happy to have come across it just sitting there on the shelf.